Special Correspondent, JULIUS ALABI, examines fresh efforts at reconciling aggrieved members in Ondo PDP, ahead February general elections.
Party leadership estimates that with successful completion of the exercise, the crisis rocking the party in the state will be resolved, while all parallel primaries and selection of candidates into various elective posts, would also be addressed. In that spirit, the state executive, which has two factional chairmen in Clement Faboyede (new PDP) and that of old PDP led by Olu Ogunde will be resolved too.
In apparent effort to attain the truce, it was leant that at various meetings of the factions of the party, the governor, Olusegun Mimiko, had stressed oneness and peace among members, reminding them that it was only in an atmosphere of peace that the party could thrive.
Mimiko, while appealing to the aggrieved members to embrace peace, reportedly indicated that he is ready to deliver one million votes for President Goodluck Jonathan in the February 14, 2015 general elections and described PDP as a mega party in the state.
He said: “I know that PDP will clear all the 26 House of Assembly, nine House of Representatives and the three senatorial seats.
“I am happy because I can see many of our leaders from the old and new PDP now working together. With what I see on the ground and the attitude of people of Akure, which has the largest number of voters in the state, I believe we are now ready to give Mr. President one million votes. What had happened in the past was normal. When two parties come together, there must be challenges. As the leader of this party, in everything we do, we will be just. I want to assure you that this party will continue to move forward. With old PDP and new PDP working together, we will deliver (the votes). I will like to appeal to those aspirants whose ambition has been dashed to stay put in the party, that when their time comes, it will never pass them.”
What, however, remains to be seen is how the reconciliation would be attained and maintained, given that what is tearing the party is the political interest of the major stakeholders in the party ahead of the elections.
However, the former state chairman of the party, Ebenezer Alabi, insists that hopes are not lost in achieving peace in the party.
“We are united and holding our meetings regularly now, while meetings are going on at the ward, local government and state levels, to reconcile all aggrieved factions and to strategise for next month’s general election,” he said.
According to him, with the reconciliation, the PDP will come out better, adding that the members are working towards winning 2015 elections in the state, knowing that what wins election for any political party is the cementation of the organisation of that party with the electoral population that will decide where power goes.
“The future of PDP in Ondo State is very bright. With the influx of people into the party now, we are gradually coming back. What the people of the state are praying for is good governance,” he stated.
In similar stead, a chieftain of the party in the State, Alex Akinnadeju, has appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan to settle the rift between Mimiko and the chairman of Global Fleet Group, Jimoh Ibrahim, in the interest of peace.
Akinnadeju, a former member of Ondo House of Assembly, while speaking with TheNiche in Akure, the state capital, on the crisis rocking the party in the state, argued that the president needed to wade into the crisis, particularly because of the forthcoming general election.
He explained that the lingering crisis has continued to affect members of the party in the state, noting that time has come to put a stop to it.
His words: “We are not leaving any election for Mimiko. Every member of PDP must take part, to ensure success of the party after the election. We must appeal to the two of them to sheathe their swords.
“Jonathan should not sit down there and be looking at Jimoh Ibrahim and Mimiko fighting. He ought to have called the two of them and resolved the differences. Ibrahim is my son and he believes in me so much. He is a principled man and knows the reason he is fighting Mimiko. I must go with him at this time because he is someone I love so much, but we cannot leave two of them fighting. The party will suffer for it.
“A single vote can defeat Jonathan. The president needs the vote of every human being. I have never been in a place where Mimiko said he can do without Jimoh. When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers,” he noted.
The octogenarian, who also assured Nigerians that former President Olusegun Obasanjo would support Jonathan’s re-election, said PDP must work harder to defeat the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC).
“Obasanjo will support Jonathan. They are only fighting on the pages of newspapers. Obasanjo always says the truth as it comes; he must correct his son. PDP must work vigorously, to defeat APC. As old as I am, I put on my dress and go to a political meeting every day. We need prayers to defeat APC,” he added.
One of the aggrieved members of the party, Sam Ogunmusi, told our reporter: “If Mimiko does not come down from his high horse and reconcile with all true aggrieved PDP members and leaders (not gbasibe people) in Ondo State, we will all lose out at the end. The interest of the old PDP and that of new PDP will go with the wind, except those who can ride on their own popularity to win election for themselves, and they are few.
He added that there are certain areas of their agitation that the governor should look into and review his decision where necessary in the interest of peace in the party.
“Democracy is all about accountability and transparency. It is also a system of government that thrives better in a situation where cross-fertilisation of ideas is encouraged,” he stressed.
Observers believe that the solution to the crisis rocking the party in Ondo is to return to the roundtable, if the party wants to win in February elections. They add that the current reconciliation process in the party offers another opportunity for it to correct its past mistakes.